Texas Policies

*Formal Assessment Requirements – Texas Policy Paper
Introduction
This activity is an opportunity for you to closely examine a contemporary policy issue between the state
of Texas and the United States federal government. Over its history, the Texas government has had
many conflicts with the national government as part of the dynamics under a federal system of
governance (federalism).
Completing this activity is a mandatory component of this course. It serves as the standard course
assessment for all GOVT 2306 students at Brookhaven College. Failure to submit and complete this
project in its entirety will result in a grade of F for the course.
There are four steps to completing this project:
Step 1 – Identifying the Issue
The purpose of the paper is to identify and address a federal issue between the US government
and Texas state government. This requires examining the history, application and effectiveness of laws
at both levels.
Choose one of the following topics:
Infrastructure development and funding, Disaster management, and funding Federal oversight
of special education in Texas, Environmental policy and air pollution control permitting, Environmental
policy and deep-water drilling, Unaccompanied migrant children in state shelters, Effects of redistricting
on minority voter turnout in Texas, Death penalty and intellectual disabilities, Security of state elections
from foreign interference
Step 2 – Gathering Sources
Conduct research to locate three academic journal articles (aka: peer-reviewed or scholarly
sources) that specifically address the policy issues that you selected and meet the following criteria:
The articles must be no more than ten (10) years old. The article must have more than five (5) pages of
actual content (without graphs, charts, footnotes, citations, etc.). Books, dissertations, and theses will
not count toward the scholarly source minimum requirements. Carefully choose sources that provide a
variety of perspectives on your selected topic. In addition to the minimum research requirements, you
should use high quality sources for essential current events information relevant to your topic. These
include academic sources that are not peer-reviewed (position papers), newspaper articles, magazine
articles, and other quality or reputable sources.
The course textbook, encyclopedias (including Wikipedia), and almanacs, are reference materials and
are not to be listed as sources at the college level.
Step 3 – The Proposal
Submit a one to two-page proposal to the appropriate dropbox by the date specified in the
course calendar. The proposal should:
Identify the topic in one or two paragraphs: Summarize the central issues of the policy topic you will be
addressing Describe the current status of the policy or topic as it relates to the differing roles and/or
positions of the federal and state governments. Describe why this policy is important to Texas and the
United States. Cite each of your academic journal articles (not supplemental sources) at least once in the
paragraph using correct MLA in-text citations. Include the Works Cited or Reference section with the
three (at a minimum) peer-reviewed academic journal articles that will form the basis of your policy
paper. These three references must be cited in the final policy paper. Additional sources can be added
(and should if a good grade is desired), but they cannot be removed without permission after the
proposal is approved. In-text citations and the Works Cited or Reference section must be formatted
using MLA citation style. Other MLA formatting elements (e.g. header, page number format, etc.) are
not used in this assignment. Do not use block quotations (or any quotation that exceeds three lines of
text) or first person in the proposal or final policy paper! References provided in the proposal cannot be
changed at a later date without approval (see Step 4 below).
An example of a good policy proposal is provided in eCampus.
A fundamental expectation of college writing is that all key arguments, facts, assertions and claims are
supported with research (i.e. parenthetical citations). When a source has been cited, you are expected
to acknowledge the source in the body of your text and on a Works Cited page using formal MLA citation
format. The paper must be completed using the formatting guidelines provided in the syllabus as
“Guidelines for all Coursework.”
I do not allow students to recycle or use essays from other courses. You must receive consent from me
in order to do so and you will need to provide a solid justification. Please do not simply submit an
assignment that you’ve used in another course as it will not be accepted unless approved.
Revise and Resubmit PolicyThe purpose of the proposal process is for your instructor to confirm that 1)
you have selected three appropriate academic journal articles, 2) that you have selected an appropriate
topic, and 3) that you are able to correctly cite your sources. Additionally, it allows your instructor to
give you feedback on your writing (grammar, sentence composition, punctuation, and spelling) as well
as your use of proper MLA citation formatting.
Should you submit a proposal that does not meet the minimum assignment requirements, you will be
asked to “revise and resubmit” the proposal. In such cases, a minimum letter grade deduction is always
applied to the resubmitted assignment. The instructor will inform you of the due date and conditions of
resubmission.
The Revise and Resubmit applies only to policy proposals that are submitted by the due date. Only one
“Revise and Resubmit” will be offered. Failure to resubmit the revision before the provided due date, or
failure to correct the identified issues in need of revision, will result in a zero for the proposal grade.
More seriously, students that do not successfully complete the proposal assignment are in high danger
of failing the course if their policy paper topic and sources do not meet minimum requirements.
Step 4 – The Policy Paper Prepare a formal research paper regarding the selected policy. The assignment
must be between 5-8 pages excluding quotations, cover page, and Works Cited page(s).
The essay should address the following:
An introduction and brief overview of the policy topic. What are the major issues facing each level of
government? What are the reasons for initiating changes to the policy? What are the options to be
considered (discuss several)?What are the pros and cons of each potential reform (costs v.
benefits)?Which is the best option moving forward (pick one)?A summary and conclusion. Do not use
first person in the proposal or final policy paper!
The paper body must be a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 full pages in body length, double-spaced.
No more and no less is necessary for this activity. Keep direct quotes to a minimum; do not use block
quotations. All key arguments, facts, assertions, and claims must be supported with research. The
references approved in the policy proposal must be used in the policy paper: you may add additional
sources (and should if you seek an A on the assignment), but you must seek approval from the instructor
at least 72 hours before the policy paper due date if you intend to change any of the scholarly sources
approved in the proposal.
There will be no opportunity to revise and resubmit this assignment. Failure to meet the minimum
research and writing requirements will result in a zero for the entire assignment (no partial credit will be
awarded as this is a formal institutional assessment). A zero on this assignment will result in a failing
grade for the course.
Finally, add a cover page and include the References (also known as Works Cited) page at the end.
Submit all pages together as one file to the assignment dropbox.
Special NotesThe grading standards used to assess the quality of your work for this project will be
detailed in a grading rubric, which will be provided during the semester.
It is strongly suggested that every student read ahead and use the library database during the first days
of the course to begin researching a topic. This project requires carefully planning throughout the
semester.
Refer to the course calendar for the specific due date. The final product is to be submitted as a single
.doc or .docx file via the submission guidelines identified by the instructor.
Procrastination on this project has resulted in some students, who were otherwise passing, having to fail
and repeat the course.